Q: My husband and I are South African & have been married for 6 years. We live in Dubai. He also has a Canadian passport. We were married with an Anti-Nuptial Contract (prenup) but the ANC was not registered, so we are married in community of property. We have nothing between us, no money/kids/assets. My husband did receive inheritance money 2 years ago. I supported us financially for our marriage because my husband worked on commission only job. He refused to find a job that paid a monthly salary. He contributed financially but I carried the bulk of our expenses. I used my own personal savings from before us being married to support us. He promised that when he receives his inheritance he would return my savings, would buy us a house and more. He received this money about 2 years ago and has given me nothing. He is an alcoholic, he has admitted that he has cheated on me by calling a sex line & has been arrested twice due to alcohol. We have been for counselling in the past. I moved out on 5/11/16.

Q: Hi Ma'am, My sister is a Dubai resident (Muslim Sunni) and Pakistani national married to Pakistani person and remained in marriage for 12 years. The person whom she married has this as a 3rd marriage and it was an arranged marriage by our family. After the marriage, we found the person very narrow-minded and the life was as hell for my sister. To make a long story short, we opened the file/registered the case in Personal Status Court of Dubai in the family section. After a few initial meetings with the marriage counsellor, they tried to patch but it did not work. In Sharia, this person said several times triple talaq in front of my sister but there were no witnesses for evidence. The husband is willing to give divorce but denying the financial settlement for my sister as my sister has medical conditions and really need financial support. I need an expert lawyer who can guide and give the right direction to obtain the financial settlements and all due rights. Please advise. Thank You

Q: Hi, I’ve been married for 7 years with two beautiful children and we are expats living in Dubai (British). We decided to get divorced and I wanted to understand my rights in regards to the family name as she’s in media and uses my children as pawns on social media sites. She also puts up pictures that I don’t want to be associated with my family for legal reasons (alcohol-related as she doesn’t have a license and hosts paid media events illegally). Can I force her to change her surname? Do I have any rights over what pictures of my children are put up on media platforms? Do I have any rights over my family name relating to social media? Thank you

س: إذا حصلت مقيمة مصرية على الطلاق في محاكم دبي، فهل تسري هذه الأحكام داخل المحاكم المصرية؟ علمًا بأن الزوجين مصريين مقيمان في الإمارات.

UAE Personal Status Law (also known as Personal Affairs Law) governs marriage, divorce, inheritance and other personal affairs in the United Arab Emirates. The law equally applies to citizens of the UAE and non-citizens unless one of them asks for the application of his home country law.